


Feels Like Home

by colleenegan25



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-11-21 14:42:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11359560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colleenegan25/pseuds/colleenegan25
Summary: Katniss runs into Peeta outside her apartment building her senior year of college. They become friends and at the time she has no idea how that important they'll become to each other.





	1. August

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my very first attempt at fanfiction. I don't think I would've started writing without Love in Panem's new author challenge on tumblr. I would never have gotten to this point without the support of peetabreadgirl, deinde-prandium. An extra huge shout out to titaniasfics for being a super amazing mentor and beta. 
> 
> Please comment with any feedback below. Thanks for reading! :)

August 

The beginning of a new school year was always an exciting time at U of Panem. People settled into their dorms, apartments and started their new class schedules. Many of Katniss’ friends were a year older than her, like her boyfriend Gale, so they had graduated last year and wouldn’t be around this year. Luckily, she still had her good girl friends with her and for that she was grateful. They were all rooming together this year in their new apartment building. 

It was hot and humid even though it was 3 in the morning. Katniss was standing on the sidewalk with her roommates outside of their apartment building in a tank top and sleep shorts when she saw him for the first time that year. 

"Hey isn't that Thresh and Peeta?" Annie pointed out to two boys walking out of the front door. 

Katniss knew who Peeta and Thresh were; they’d lived in the same dorm freshman and sophomore year. They shared some mutual friends and had even eaten together in the caf a few times. Peeta had always been nice and funny. He paid attention to her when she spoke and made her feel like whatever she was saying was important. They had even had a moment 2 years ago. Late one night, after a night of studying, they stayed in the cafeteria to talk over bowls of cereal He laughed at something she said and then he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. She could’ve sworn he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. A month later she started dating Gale and didn’t see Peeta around as much anymore. So when her friends spotted him and his roommate, Thresh, coming out of the front door of their apartment building as the fire alarm blared, she was glad to see him. 

"Why are they still here?" Johanna asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask" Madge suggested.

Just then, as though their ears were burning, Thresh and Peeta turned towards the girls and, with smiles of recognition, they waved. They walked over to where the girls were standing and suddenly Katniss felt a lot more self-conscious in her tank top, shorts and wearing her mouth guard.

She managed a "Hey" and then let Johanna and Madge take the lead on the conversation. She glanced at Peeta and noticed that, he's wearing a tight white undershirt with pajama pants. The t-shirt accentuated his strong chest and shoulders. He looked good even though she thought it was strange he was wearing pants in August. They made eye contact and she blushed and smiled at him. Apparently the guys were staying at U of P for the next 2 years, getting their master's degrees. At the time Katniss had no idea how that decision would change her life. 

  

After the firefighters gave the tired college kids the all clear, they shuffled back into the building. As they parted ways on the staircase, Peeta and Thresh called out that they should hang out sometime before continuing up to the third floor. Madge and Annie were talking about tomorrow's plans when Johanna nudged Katniss,"So Peeta's lookin pretty good these days?”

"What? Uh... I guess. Doesn't matter, I have Gale anyway," Katniss replied.

"Just because you and Gale are doing the long distance thing doesn't mean you have to pretend to be blind. Peeta's clearly been working out. Don't pretend you didn't notice." Johanna bites back.

"Yeah fine. He looks good okay. I'm going to bed" Katniss relented and told herself not to think about how Peeta looked in that tight undershirt.


	2. September

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katniss and Peeta start hanging out with the help of a mutual friend.

September 

Katniss was walking home from Friday morning classes when she saw a familiar face carrying a tennis racket. 

“Cato? What are you doing here? You’ve already graduated.”

“Hey Big K...how’s it going dude?” Cato replied in his typical slow drawl

“I’m good! But seriously why are you back!?” Katniss was both excited and confused to see her old friend

“I was just hitting some balls around. I’ve got some time….my job doesn’t start until October. So until then... I’m just chillin.”

“That’s great that you got a job! Where is it? Where are you staying while you’re here?” 

“It’s down in Louisville at an actuarial firm. Right now, I’m staying with P-Money and the T-Man” Katniss scrunched her face in confusion. Cato loved giving everyone he liked nicknames but it was confusing when she wasn’t familiar with who he was referring to.

“Uh who?” She asked

Cato laughed, “Hah Sorry Big K, Peeta and Thresh, they’re still here because they’re so smart, they’re staying for grad school.” 

“No way! Cato, they live in my building. I’ll walk with you.” The pair headed down Fourth Street in the direction of the apartment building. 

“So Big K, how’s everything with Gale?” Cato never gave Gale a nickname even though he had known him for years. Katniss had never really considered why not. 

“It’s fine. It’s good. Really, he’s just really busy working up in the city. He doesn’t have much free time so we don’t talk much. But I’m so busy with school and teaching practicum that it’s all I have time for anyway.” Katniss explained.

Cato looked a bit suspicious but all he said was, “That’s cool...that’s cool” 

They arrived at the apartment door and Katniss used her building key to open it. As they head up the stairs Cato turns to Katniss.

“Hey Big K, whatcha doing right now? You wanna hang out with us?” She considered it, it was only noon and she didn’t have any plans until later this evening. It was Friday so her homework could wait. And that’s how Katniss found herself standing in Peeta and Thresh’s apartment.

“Hey dudes!” Cato calls out, “I brought a friend, Big K is in the house!” Katniss steps into their apartment. The kitchen was a little messy with dishes in the sink but it was not as disgusting as some of the apartments she’d been in. The living room is sparsely decorated, white walls, standard Bankier apartment furniture, an arm chair, two end tables covered with engineer books, a coffee table covered with beer cans, a bag of chips and notebooks and along the wall there was a very ugly green couch. 

Katniss suddenly felt overwhelmed being in the apartment of two guys who she could barely call acquaintances. She opted to stand since she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. Sure, Cato had invited her, but he didn’t even live there. They talked about their mutual friends and what they’ve been doing since graduation and how their semesters were going so far.

“Ok, so time for the deep stuff. What’s everyone’s top 5 movies?” Peeta asked excitedly. 

Thresh rolled his eyes, “Peeta LOVES ranking things and then discussing the reasons why people rank them in that order.”

“Fine, Thresh. I’ll go first. Mine are number 1: T2, number 2: Die Hard, number 3: Predator, number 4: Rocky, and number 5: Jaws.” Peeta said with certainty.

“Solid list man,” Cato nodded. 

“I do approve of there being two Arnold Schwarzenegger movies in your top five,” Thresh said.

Katniss laughed to herself, “Uh, I haven’t seen any of those movies before.”

“WHAT!?!?!” Peeta looked genuinely shocked and horrified.

Katniss shrugged in response, “I don’t know. I haven’t seen that many movies. It wasn’t really a priority for me.”

“Katniss, no, these are classics! Seriously, how could you be 21 years old and never seen any of them? You HAVE to see them!”

“I don’t know, Peeta. I’ve got a lot going on this semester with classes and teaching practicum. Besides I don’t even have the dvds.”

“We’ll watch them with you, right Thresh?” Thresh nodded in agreement. “Katniss I can’t have you go off into the adult world without seeing these. You’ll miss so many pop culture references.”

“Peeta, I teach 8 year olds. I’m pretty sure they haven’t seen any of those movies either. But if it means that much to you, I’ll watch them with you guys.” 

All of a sudden her phone rang. She looked down and saw it was Gale. She couldn’t believe it was already 5:30. 

“Hey guys, I’ve got to go. Thanks for inviting me up. Cato, let me know how things go with your big move and the new job! Peeta and Thresh, I had fun!” Katniss turned to go.

“Let’s hang out again soon, Katniss, I’m already getting tired of looking at Peeta’s ugly mug every day,” Thresh joked. 

Her phone rang again - she looked down at it, sorry that she’ll have to leave. It was surprising how comfortable she felt with the guys in their apartment. 

“Hello?” she answered and closed their apartment door.

During Gale’s daily phone call on his commute home, he complained about his computer science job in the city. He hated his long commute, hated the work he was doing and hated his lack of free time. Katniss just listened to him. She’d given up arguing with him about the benefits of having a full time salaried computer science position in the city. Katniss couldn’t understand his reasons for being so annoyed by his job, but she knew better than to argue with him. After listening to his rants for a little while, she said she had to go. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 Weeks Later

After an exhausting day of teaching her second grade practicum students, Katniss was relieved when she pulled into her parking spot. She dropped off her bag at her apartment, changed into sweats and promptly headed up to the third floor. Knocking as she opened the door, she shouted “Hey boys! What are we watching tonight?” and plopped on the ugly green couch. It was Wednesday night, which meant tacos and watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Peeta and Thresh couldn’t believe all the classics Katniss hadn’t seen. They made it their mission to make sure she watched as many as possible before she left for student teaching at the end of the semester. Tonight’s movie was Peeta’s favorite of all time: Terminator 2. 

“Okay, Peeta, explain to me again why we’re watching another Terminator movie after we just watched one last week?” Katniss asked.

“T2 has more Arnold! It has bigger a budget! It has more charm - it doesn’t have a horror vibe it’s a true action movie. Plus it has more heart and soul than a movie of its type should.” Peeta explained enthusiastically. 

“Okay okay I know you love it. I promise I won’t shit talk too much during it.” 

Turns out T2 was really good. She even cried a little at the ending and although Peeta doesn’t gloat about it, she can saw him smirking at her so she punched him in the arm. When her phone went off with Gale’s number flashing, she huffed. “Okay goodnight guys” 

“Goodnight” They called back. As she walked out the door, she doesn’t see the pining look on Peeta’s face.


	3. October

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gale comes for a visit and Katniss and Peeta get to know each other better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive response to this story! I hope you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think your comments are so motivating! Come chat with me on tumblr iliveilaughiloveiread

Who knew being an education student meant killing so many trees? Katniss had so many articles to print for class. She had to highlight and write notes while she did academic reading and studying which meant she had to print them. Unfortunately, she’d already used up her semester free quota. Luckily engineer TAs got big quotas and didn’t really use them so Peeta offered to print her articles for her as long she sent him the ones she needed.

 

_ To:  _ [ _ pmellark@upanem.edu _ ](mailto:pmellark@upanem.edu)

_ From:  _ [ _ keverdeen@upanem.edu _ ](mailto:keverdeen@upanem.edu)

_ Subject: reason number 23738 I love engineers _

 

_ Hey Peeta, _

 

_ So you told me you have a bunch of pages left in your quota, will you _

_ print out these articles for me? That'd be great! Most of them are _

_ only a page or two apparently. _

  
  


  1. [_http://www.nychold.com/pr-forum-01.html_](http://www.nychold.com/pr-forum-01.html)



 

  1. [_http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2003_](http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2003)



 

  1. [_http://mathematicallysane.com_](http://mathematicallysane.com/evidence/researchbase.asp)



_ (Apparently most of this is references but I need them). _

 

  1. [_http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1115/p09s01-coop.htm_](http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1115/p09s01-coop.htm)



  
  


_ Thanks you're my hero! _

 

_ See you later today. _

 

_ Katniss _

 

_ To:  _ [ _ pmellark@upanem.edu _ ](mailto:pmellark@upanem.edu)

_ From:  _ [ _ keverdeen@upanem.edu _ ](mailto:keverdeen@upanem.edu)

_ Subject: Re: reason number 23738 I love engineers _

 

_ i wanna hear the first 23737 reasons someday _

_ I’ll bring them after classes today _

 

_ -P _

 

Katniss jumped at the knocking on the door. It couldn’t be Gale already it was only 5:30. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Peeta standing there. He was holding a bunch of papers in his hands.

 

“Special delivery,” he joked, but she only cracked another small smile as she took the papers from him. “What’s up Katniss? Is something wrong?” 

 

“No. I just… nevermind.” She hesitated.

 

“What is it?” Peeta seemed concerned.

 

“Gale is going to be here soon, it’s our 2 year anniversary but everything just feels so forced. He wants to go listen to this screamo band at some guy’s house who we don’t even know. We just keep fighting and I’m so tired”

 

“Well...I’m sure it’ll be better once you see each other in person. He’d be stupid to let anything get in the way of enjoying alone time with you.  But if you need anything Thresh and I are upstairs,” with those words of encouragement Peeta turned around and headed up the stairs.

 

“Thanks” Katniss called out

 

Gale came later that evening and it was as bad as Katniss thought it would be. He still wanted to go to a random stranger’s party to hear a screamo band. Katniss had already told him yesterday that she just wanted a relaxing weekend at home where they can hang out and that she didn’t feel comfortable going to the house of someone she doesn’t know. Gale shouted about how they never do what he wanted and he’s working all day everyday and deserved a chance to blow off some steam. Katniss resented how Gale didn’t acknowledge the fact that she had her own workload working, taking classes and teaching her practicum. 

 

After fighting for hours, Katniss finally asked, “What are we even doing Gale?” 

 

“Well Catnip, we’re trying to figure out what the hell we’re doing tonight,” He snapped back.

 

“No I mean. What are WE doing?” She gestured between them. “Are you happy? Has this been fun? We’ve been long distance for over half our relationship and the rest of the time we’re fighting?”

 

“I mean it’s fine, what are you saying?” Gale questioned

 

“Seriously!?! It’s FINE! Gale that is not how two people who are 21 and 22 should refer to their relationship. Also it is NOT fine. Fighting all the time is NOT fine. You know what I just can’t do this anymore.”

 

“What are you saying Catnip?” 

 

“I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.” She replied with finality 

 

“You can’t do this?! What do you want me to do now? I drove 3 hours to get here. I don’t live here anymore!” Gale yelled back at her.

 

“Call your friends, you know 3 of them still live here. I’m leaving. And DON’T be here when I come back.” Katniss turned away from him and stormed out of the room. 

 

She slammed the door of her apartment closed and then felt the fight leave her body as soon as the door closed. Her roommates had gone out for the night trying to give Gale and Katniss privacy. She didn’t have anywhere go but she couldn’t stay here with a sulking Gale. Then her feet moved toward the stairs and before she even realized what she was doing she stood in front of Peeta and Thresh’s apartment. She heard voices inside, more than two voices, she realized they had company and decided to turn around. Just as she was about to leave Thresh opened the door. “Katniss, what are you doing here?” he asked.

 

“Uh...Gale and I broke up and I just needed space away from him. Sorry you’re busy I’ll go” the words rushed out of her mouth and Katniss turned to go.

 

“Shit, well um... you don’t need to go” Thresh looked back at the guys sitting in his apartment watching the game. 

 

Peeta stood quickly, “Katniss, let’s go for a walk, you look like you need some fresh air.”

 

Katniss smiled gratefully, “Thanks.”

 

On their walk Katniss briefly explained her fight with Gale and how their relationship was just too exhausting. Then they just walked past the bars and parks, sometimes they made brief observations of people around them. Sometimes they just enjoyed the cool fall evening air in companionable silence. Peeta walked her back to her door a few hours later, he wanted make sure that Gale was gone and wouldn’t bother Katniss anymore.

 

**Late October (2 weeks later)**

 

After a much needed girls night out Katniss came to two conclusions. First, that she did not want to have another boyfriend any time soon. Second, that she had a bad case of SF, better known as sexual frustration. Johanna had thrown out the idea of finding her a friend with benefits situation but Katniss was unsure. She knew she was wound tightly because she kept snapping at her friends. They just laughed at her and told her get rid of her SF already. Katniss couldn’t understand why her sexual frustration was at an all time high lately. Sure her and Gale were broken up but before that they had been long distance for 6 months so it’s not like she was used to getting any regularly anyway. Of course the only change in her daily activities was hanging out with the guys upstairs. But why would that make her more sexually frustrated than usual?

  
  


On Thursday night, Katniss was hungry and out of food. She decided to see if the guys wanted to go out to eat with her. Since she had a car and they didn’t, they were usually always up for an excuse to get off campus. She walked up the stairs and tried door, it was locked which usually meant they weren’t home. Katniss turned to leave and just as the door swung open. There stood Peeta soaking wet holding a towel around his waist. His curls were flattened down from the shower and she watched as droplets of water rolled down from his broad shoulders, to defined his pecs, down through the ridges of his six pack and then continued lower beneath the towel.

 

“Katniss!” he exclaimed “I didn’t know you were coming over today”

 

“Oh” she snapped out her trance of staring at his wet body. “Yeah I was just hungry and out of food so I was wondering if you guys wanted to grab dinner then maybe go grocery shopping. You know at a real store not the Walgreens across the street.”

 

“Hah hey don’t knock Walgreens it’s got some great variety,” Peeta replied “But yes I’d love to grab dinner then go to the store. Thresh has his night class tonight so it’ll just be me if that’s okay.” 

 

_ Yes!  _ Katniss screamed internally, man her hormones were revved up. “Yeah, of course. Why don’t you get dressed and meet me down at my apartment I have to grab my list and grocery bags.”

 

At dinner the conversation flowed freely. Katniss and Peeta were both a bit nervous about being alone since usually when they hung out Thresh was there at least. However, at dinner the conversation flowed freely. They laughed and talked about all kinds of things including Cato’s move to Louisville and how they’d like to visit him. After dinner they headed to grocery store. Katniss pulled out the list she grabbed off the fridge. It was on some of Madge’s crazy list stationary, this one was titled 

 

_ Things I Need... _

 

  * __A good make out session__


  * _Bananas_


  * _Cereal_


  * _Bread_


  * _Pasta_


  * _Frozen pizza_


  * _Ramen_


  * _Vegetables_


  * _Apples_


  * _Milk_


  * _Paper towels_


  * _Chicken breast_


  * _Spinach_



 

 

Katniss laughed while reading through the top line and recognized Johanna’s handwriting. Clearly she was sexually frustrated and her friends wanted her to do something about it. She and Peeta shopped around getting everything they needed. Katniss found herself smiling while Peeta pushed the cart. She kept sneaking glances at him. When had Peeta gotten so strong? Were his arms always this big and she just hadn’t noticed? She shook those thoughts out her head and tried to stay focused. Peeta made a joke about how much milk two grown men need, apparently the answer was 3 gallons for a week. That amount seemed insane to Katniss but it felt nice to do the shopping with someone, almost intimate. She figured to know a person’s milk consumption habits you must be pretty close to them. When they got to the checkout lane Katniss unloaded all her groceries first. 

 

“Hey Peeta, could you check my list and make sure I have everything? I left it in the basket on the front of the cart?”

 

“Sure” He grabbed list and his eyes went wide “Um Katniss?”

 

“Yeah” she responded distractedly she was finishing putting her items on the checkout belt. 

 

“I’m not sure you have everything on this list…” He smirked at her. She looked up from the cart and saw he’s pointing at the top item.  _ Things I Need -A good makeout session _ . Mortification started to consume her. 

 

“Oh.. hah… uh Johanna wrote that earlier. You know how pushy she can be.” She rambled. Katniss’ cheeks started turning red and she felt very hot. Of course it was true, she did need a good makeout session but having Peeta read it was not what she had in mind. She looked back at the checkout cashier paid for her groceries, willing the redness in her cheeks to go away.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peeta helped Katniss carry her groceries up to her apartment. Katniss was relieved that Peeta hadn’t brought up the item number 1 again on the drive home. Maybe he knew it was a joke and just forgot about it. It didn’t explain why she was still feeling so hot though, it was like her body was working in overdrive. They walked back to the car and proceeded to carry Peeta’s groceries up to his apartment.

 

“So... do you want to stay and watch something?” Peeta asks putting away the last of his groceries in his refrigerator.

 

“Sure, um,  what do you want to watch?” 

 

“Whatever, I’m sure there’s a game on” Peeta flipped on the TV to the Bulls game. 

 

It was the beginning of the season Katniss had forgotten basketball had started. She sat in her normal spot on the couch on the center cushion with her feet propped on the coffee table.  Peeta sat beside her on her right side. They could sit farther apart since Thresh wasn’t there but they didn’t. As they watch they game they make idle conversation. Katniss glanced over at Peeta, she had never noticed how long his eyelashes were until now, she wondered if they ever get tangled when he blinks. Slowly as the game progresses their bodies inched closer to each other. When the game ends Katniss reached for the remote. It was 10 pm which mean Friends reruns will be on. 

 

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Peeta said indignantly.

 

“Friends is on, the game is over.” Katniss replied holding the remote in her left hand as far away from Peeta as possible.

 

“Oh no you don’t missy! This is my apartment, my remote, my rules.” 

 

“That’s too bad, because I’ve got the remote.” Katniss stuck out her tongue and changed the channel to Friends. 

 

Peeta lunged at her trying to grab the remote. He’s much bigger but Katniss was faster. She wormed her way up the couch keeping her arms out of Peeta’s reach. Just when she thought she won Peeta grabbed her hips and flipped her over easily so that he’s on top of her and clearly in control. He was breathing hard and looked down at Katniss. Her face felt warm, her heart was beating rapidly and suddenly the feeling of Peeta being on top of her was overwhelming her senses.  Katniss stared at his lips and looked up to see that his blue eyes were so dilated they almost looked black. He looked down at her lips, which she was biting subconsciously. She felt the tug inside her chest and realized she wants to kiss him. He looked back into her eyes and said in a husky voice, “Can I help you with the last item on your list?” 

 

She snorts and smacks his chest, “Way to ruin the moment Mellark!”

 

“Oh I haven’t ruined anything yet.” He said smugly and leaned down to kiss her. His lips were firm but hesitant at first. Katniss reached up and runs her fingers across his back and up into his hair. She tugged him closer deepening the kiss. She felt it everywhere, it’s like a shockwave through her nervous system. Every part of her body was on fire and full of anticipation. They kiss for a long time and Katniss rolled on top of him so she can have more control. They’re in the own world where nothing existed except for their lips and hands roaming each other’s bodies. 

 

They sprung apart as soon as they heard the jingling of Thresh’s keys. Katniss jumped up to go to the bathroom to fix her hair and Peeta grabbed a pillow to throw over his lap to conceal the evidence of their activities. 

 

“Hey man, what are you watching?” Thresh asked.

 

“Oh....uh Friends, Katniss picked it” Peeta stammered hoping to appear nonchalant.

 

“Where is she?” Thresh wondered

 

Katniss opened the bathroom door with freshly braided hair and slightly red cheeks, “Hey Thresh, I’m actually going to go to bed. Good night boys!”

 

Peeta started to get up, but Thresh looked at him with a confused expression so he sat back down. 

 

“Good night” They called back.


	4. October part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Katniss be able to get out of her own head? Katniss and Peeta visit Cato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support! Here's chapter 4. I left all the details about the bars, restaurants and their signature foods from my actual college; let me know if you can figure it out! Special shout-out to bunsofcheese for pre-reading for me! You should check out her story Harvest of Tainted Hearts it's super good :)
> 
> Please comment and tell me what you think! Also feel free to come chat with me on tumblr iliveilaughiloveiread

Oh shit! What was she thinking? Katniss made her way downstairs to her apartment. What the hell was that? Peeta was hot, I mean really hot, his arms and chest were harder and stronger than she had imagined. And damn was he a good kisser. Had he even had a girlfriend before? He never mentioned one, whatever. He was clearly a natural. All that kissing and feeling of his hard body had flipped a switch inside her turning up her sexual frustration to an all time high. She was wound so tightly. At least now she could now admit to herself that Peeta had been the cause of her heightened SF, but Thresh came home before they had gotten a chance to actually do anything about it. Fuck.

 

Katniss opened the door to her apartment quietly figuring Madge was already asleep. Since the lights were out she had guessed right. As Katniss was getting ready for bed she couldn't shake the energy coursing through her body even though it was well past midnight. She got into bed and set her alarm for her annoyingly early Friday 8 am class. She knew she needed to get to sleep because she did not function well on less than 8 hours and there was no way she was getting that now. She tossed and turned, finding it difficult to get comfortable. Ugh fine! She sighed and slid her hand beneath her sleep shorts. She was still wet from the make-out session turned dry- humping with Peeta earlier. Katniss dipped her fingers inside herself coating them with moisture imagining what it would feel like if they were Peeta’s fingers instead of her own.  She started circling her clit slowly at first, remembering how good Peeta’s body had felt on top of hers. Then she recalled how it felt to have his dick rub against her center, the strain against his pants and the glorious friction of their jeans against one another. She rubbed faster and faster until her leg muscles starting to tighten and felt a pull inside her. Then after one more circle she snapped, she called out Peeta’s name as she came. Her left hand grabbed the sheets while her body convulsed over and over. Hell yes! Finally relaxed enough she fell asleep. 

 

The next morning was a blur since Katniss had overslept she barely made it into class on time. They were busy working on their group project so Katniss hadn't had a chance to even think about Peeta how their dynamic would change now that last night happened. When she checked her phone after her 3 hour class, her heart skipped a beat when she saw Peeta's name. 

 

_ P - 1 or 2 slices of pepperoni _ ?

 

Instantly she felt relieved, clearly last night wasn't a big deal. Peeta just asked her how many pieces of pizza she wanted like he always did on Friday. Friday the slices Papa Del’s at were half price, so Peeta stopped and got them on the his way home from MEL, the mechanical engineering lab. 

 

_ K - 2 please I'm starving ;)  _

 

Shit she sent a winky face emoji. Katniss always sent winky faces, they were one her most used emojis but now that they had kissed would he think she meant something else by the winky face? Ugh! Why did kissing make things so complicated. 

 

_ P - you got it  _

 

Whew. He didn’t acknowledge the winky face. That’s good, right? Or did that mean that he wanted to forget about what happened last night? Or maybe it’s neither, Peeta tended to ignore emojis thinking they’re lazy and not an adequate replacement for words. What was he thinking? Should she ask him during their lunch? Was that awkward? What if he was just looking for a hook-up? At least he wasn’t not ignoring her, these thoughts continued to run through Katniss’ mind during her walk back the apartment. She had resolved that if anything felt weird between her and Peeta that she’d say something during lunch. She trudged up to the third floor, pushed the door open and saw Peeta and Thresh sitting on the couch with their pizza slices on the coffee table. Of course she wasn’t going to say anything in front of Thresh so she simply said, “Hey guys! TGIF.” and plopped down on the middle seat of the couch where her 2 slices of pepperoni waited for her. They watched TV and chatted about their classes while eating. Katniss kept glancing at Peeta but his eyes never met hers.

 

Katniss headed down to her own apartment. She and Madge started doing their laundry and deciding what their plans would be for the night. Katniss’ mind kept drifting to Peeta and what he might want to do. They didn’t hang out on Fridays very often but she really wanted to see him again. 

 

“I wonder what Peeta’s doing tonight?” Katniss wondered aloud.

 

“Uh Kat, weren’t you literally just in his apartment with him and Thresh?” Madge looked at her with a confused look.

 

“Well yeah, but I mean we just ate pizza and watched TV like always.” said Katniss 

 

“So you didn’t ask them what they’re doing tonight?” Madge asked 

 

“Oh um... no, I guess didn’t.” Katniss replied

 

“Really? Kat is everything alright with you?” Madge looked worried.

 

“Yes of course, why do you ask?” Katniss responded distractedly throwing her sheets in the washing machine. 

 

“You just seem out of it and kind of jumpy. Did something happen with you and Peeta?” Madge eyed her suspiciously.

 

“No!” Katniss said firmly, “I mean no, nothing happened. I just forgot to ask the guys what they’re up to. I’ll text them and ask if they want to meet us at Murphy’s later.”

 

“Okay…”Madge seemed unconvinced but let it go.  

 

Later that night Katniss was laughing and singing with her friends while enjoying a huge plate of Irish Nachos. She looked up just as Peeta and Thresh walked in. Her smile was radiant when she saw Peeta and she kept her eyes on him as he made his way across the bar to her. Katniss was so focused on Peeta that she missed Madge and Johanna nudging each other and rolling their eyes at Katniss’ behavior. Peeta stayed by Katniss’ side all night, he stayed even when Thresh decided to head home. When people pushed passed them to go to the bathroom,  he would pull her body close to him. His touch on her waist set her nerves on fire. She felt herself being drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Around 1, she said she was feeling tired and wanted to head back, Madge was dancing and told her she wanted to stay til close. 

 

Peeta offered to walk her back to her apartment to make sure she got there safely. On the walk back Katniss and Peeta walk very close to one another but did not touch. Katniss considered bringing up the kissing from the night before but she didn’t want to make it a big deal out of something if it wasn’t one.  Katniss’ body was hyper-aware of how close she was to Peeta’s and how close she wanted to be to him. When they got to her apartment door she opened it and pulled him in with her. Fuck it.  She grabbed on to his shoulders and kissed him hard against the door.

 

“Oh thank God” Peeta sighed, “I’ve been wanting to do that all night.” They toed off their shoes and headed into the hallway. 

 

“Well come on then.” Katniss smiled and pulled him into her bedroom and onto her bed. The talk could wait, right now she needed to see how Peeta’s fingers would match up to last night’s fantasies. 

 

When Madge got home at 2:30 she noticed Peeta’s shoes on the front mat. She smiled, shook her head and decided not to say anything to either of them.  

 

**Halloween - 1 week later**

 

Katniss and Peeta threw the rest of their bags in back of Katniss’ car. Madge gave them a hug and a bag of snacks for the road, she was such a mother hen. She made Katniss promise to text her when they arrived. They had decided to visit Cato for the weekend since he moved into his new apartment in Louisville. In typical Cato fashion, he had not bought any furniture yet, so Katniss and Peeta packed sleeping bags, pillows and blankets along with their clothes and costumes. They left as soon as Peeta was done with his TA Office hours on Friday afternoon. While they drove Peeta listened to Katniss sing along to her ipod and he hummed along quietly.

 

They stopped for gas about an hour outside of Louisville. “I’m sad Thresh couldn’t come with us. Do you think he will be okay?” Katniss asked genuinely concerned about him.

 

“He’ll be fine, he’s a big boy and it’s only two days. He’ll probably just skype with Rue and then go to sleep. Besides are you really sad he couldn’t come with us?” Peeta waggled his eyebrows up and down and leaned in to kiss her. What was supposed to be a short peck quickly turned into a heavier kiss. They pulled apart breathing heavily when they heard, the driver of the car in front of them start his car.

 

“No I suppose I’m kind of glad he’s not here.” Katniss admitted smiling shyly. “You’re sure not telling him is the right thing? He isn’t suspicious?”

 

“He’s fine, we don’t want to make it weird when it’s the three of hanging out. Besides it took Rue literally telling him she wanted to date him for him to realize she liked him. He won’t notice anything.” Peeta reasoned. “Did you tell Madge?”

 

“No, I haven’t said anything to her about it. Ok you’re right we don’t need to tell anyone what we’re doing, it is not their business anyway.” 

 

What were they doing? Were they friends with benefits, dating, just making out casually? Katniss got a little lost in her thoughts. When she turned to get out of the car, she saw that Peeta had already put the pump back and was replacing her gas cap. What a good friend Peeta was, that’s something Gale would have never done for. They continued their drive to Cato’s apartment. 

 

They spent the weekend doing everything Cato had planned: playing tennis, visiting Churchill Downs and going to Halloween party. Katniss and Peeta spent the weekend finding places they could sneak off to make-out so that Cato wouldn’t be suspicious. It was pretty difficult to sleep on the floor next to each other without touching but they managed by teasing each other and stealing kisses when Cato went to the bathroom. 

 

When Sunday morning arrived it was almost time for Katniss and Peeta to head back to campus.

 

“Dudes, thanks for visiting. You guys are the first ones to come down.” Cato told them with his easy going smile. 

 

“Of course Cato, we had to see the new place, plus it was my first time visiting Louisville. It’s a pretty cool city.” Katniss responded

 

“You were a great host C-rich! But you better get some furniture soon, if you bring a girl up here the way it looks now, she might think you’re a serial killer or something.” Peeta joked. Although the fact that the only furniture in the whole studio apartment was a square card table and one folding chair was odd, even for Cato.

 

“Yeah P-money you’re right. I’ll get on it soon man. How about you? Any ladies in your life?” Cato asked.

 

Katniss flinched. There’s no way he knew, they hadn’t done anything in front of Cato. Katniss was certain they hadn’t shown any signs of PDA. She was so not ready for a “define the relationship talk” in front of Cato. She wasn’t even ready to have one with Peeta.

 

Peeta laughed and his eyes flitted over to Katniss’ briefly, “Uh not right now man. I’m pretty busy taking classes and TAing this semester. I just haven’t had much of a chance.” 

 

Katniss quirked her eyebrow at him.

 

“Alright well don’t let Big K be a cockblock for you. She can be a good wingwoman though. Remember junior year?” Cato asked Katniss.

 

“Hah well Cato I don’t think drunk sorority girls are quite Peeta’s type.” Katniss eyed Peeta for confirmation, “But I’m glad you had fun that night when you crashed the Elementary Educators bar crawl.” she said.

 

“It was an epic night Big K. For real, though, I’m super happy you guys are chillin’ together. Drive safe and say hi to the T-man for me” Cato smiled at them. He gave Katniss a hug and he and Peeta did the bro-half handshake - half hug. 


	5. November

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peeta and Katniss get more comfortable with each other and Katniss friends catch on wanting to know exactly what is going on between the two of them. Thanksgiving Break means P & K will have to spend some time apart or will they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive response and comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Special shout-out one to reminiscentrain for being an amazing beta and friend. Please comment and let me know what you think!

**November**

 

Katniss and Peeta spent almost every evening together, usually Thresh or Madge was there too. Sometimes it’s a bigger group of them, sometimes less, but it’s rare that they spend an evening just the two of them. Katniss and Peeta started texting more and sending messages on gchat during class. They only hook up when their roommates were gone and they thought they have fooled everyone around them. One weekend Thresh had gone home to visit Rue and Madge was staying over at Annie’s since they have to work late on their Habitat for Humanity fundraiser. Katniss and Peeta were up in his apartment. They’re laying in bed naked and exhausted from their orgasms, though they had agreed early on to wait before going all the way, that hasn’t stopped them from using their hands and mouths to pleasure each other as frequently as they can manage. Peeta glanced at the clock and realized how late it was so he told her to just stay the night. Katniss tiredly agreed to stay and asked him for something to sleep in. He threw her an old shirt and she pulled it on and fell into bed. In the morning Katniss woke up and told Peeta she needed to go get ready before she met with her study group. She kissed him and he sleepily grabbed for her and mumbled for her to stay.

 

“I’ve got to go. Peeta…” Katniss reluctantly insisted.

 

“Ok I’ll see you later?” Peeta asked, his face looked hopeful and boyish in his sleepy state.

 

“Yes later.” She promised as he rolled over to go back to sleep.

 

Katniss walked downstairs and into her apartment. She walked down the hall to go to bathroom and heard, “Hah she’s alive and well.” She turned around and saw Johanna and Madge sitting in the living room. 

 

“Oh hey guys. I was..just...uh...getting back from a run.” Katniss said

 

“Really?” Johanna asked slyly, “Because you’re not wearing running shoes, you’re hair is down, you haven’t broken a sweat, and you’re wearing a shirt that’s way too big for you that I’ve never seen before. And let’s be honest, Katniss, you hate running.”

 

“Oh well...um...” Katniss stalled, racking her brain for a more believable excuse and coming up empty.

 

“Looks more like you’re doing a walk of shame from Peeta’s apartment.” Johanna smirked.

 

“What? No I’m not doing a ‘walk of shame’ I did not have sex last night and why do you think I was with Peeta anyway?” Katniss huffed and turned to go to the bathroom.

 

“BAHAHAHA Brainless, are you fucking kidding me?” Johanna screeched.

 

“What?” Annoyed, Katniss turned back to her friends.

“Hon, your shirt” Madge smiled kindly pointing behind her back. Then Katniss maneuvered the shirt so she could see the back and took a sharp inhale of breath. There sat in bold blue letters right above the giant number 4 - MELLARK.

 

“Well shit.” Katniss whispered to herself.

 

“So Brainless, when were you gonna tell us you’re banging Mellark?”

 

“Jo, God you’re disgusting. We are not ‘banging’ and why should I have told you? Did you tell me that you’re ‘banging’ Ryan Marvel?”

 

Madge snorted and covered her mouth once she saw Johanna’s glare.

“I didn’t tell you about Marvel because it’s a casual thing, I didn’t know you wanted to be informed about all of my conquests. But you and Peeta are for real, you’re basically dating.”

 

“What no?! We are NOT dating! We’re just friends with benefits Jo, just like you said. I’m taking care of my SF and that’s all. Remember I’m not dating anyone for awhile, I JUST broke up with Gale and I don’t want a boyfriend anytime soon! Katniss yelled.

 

“Sure...whatever you say.” said Johanna sarcastically.

 

“We just want what’s best for you Kat” Madge added with a kind smile.

 

Katniss kept running through what her friends had said while she showered. She and Peeta weren’t dating. She didn’t even want a boyfriend after the whole Gale debacle. They were just two friends who were helping relieve some tension and frustration. Sure they had fun together and like to hang out but that’s because they were friends. Katniss liked hanging out with all of her friends, plus most of the time Thresh was there anyway. Johanna had just accused them of dating to get under her skin. It was one of her favorite things to do, rile Katniss up. Katniss cleared her head of all thoughts of dating and got ready for her study group. 

  
  
  


**Thanksgiving Break**

 

Since Katniss had a car it only made sense for her to drive Peeta home. Their hometowns were only 30 minutes apart anyway, plus she doesn’t love making the 3 hour drive alone. She offered to drive Thresh too, but he lived farther north and his parents were coming down to get him. During the drive Katniss and Peeta talked easily, listened to music and at times sat in comfortable silence. Katniss couldn’t believe how normal it felt just to be with each other. They don’t even have to be doing anything and she still always enjoyed the time they spend together. 

_ Shit were they dating?? No. No they’re just friends. _ When she pulled into the large subdivision where Peeta’s parents lived, he asked if she wants to stay for dinner, not in a hurry to get home so she agreed.

 

Katniss’ friends have continued to tease and make snide remarks about her and Peeta’s friendship/relationship/friends with benefits situation, but she knew it’s all in good fun. So when  Mrs. Mellark opened the door and sized her up standing next to Peeta she was not prepared to feel so exposed and defensive.

 

“Mom, this is Katniss.” Peeta gestured towards her.

 

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mellark” Katniss said in her most polite voice holding out her hand.  

 

Not taking Katniss’ hand, Mrs. Mellark said, “Indeed, hello there, thank you for driving Peeta home, it’s always such a burden having to pick him up from the bus stop.” Then she turned and walked away.

 

Katniss is shocked that Mrs. Mellark did not seem happy at all to see her son after being away from home for months. Even with the strained relationship she had with her own parents, she knew when she got home they would hug her and ask her how school was going. 

 

“So...that’s my mom,” Peeta said giving no indication if this cold welcome was normal.

“Here, let me help you bring your laundry in,” Katniss offered not wanting to dwell too long on the awkward mother/son interaction she had just witnessed. 

 

Together they brought everything up to Peeta’s room in one trip. Katniss found herself looking at old photos of Peeta as a boy in the hallway. She studied the framed pictures of three blonde boys at three different heights looking like those nesting Russian dolls. Peeta looked like an adorable cherub in some of them with his chubby cheeks and curly blonde hair. The most recent picture showed all three boys, men really, about the same height with their strong arms wrapped around each other. Katniss smiled to herself and wondered what Peeta’s childhood must’ve been like living in a house with two older brothers. 

 

Peeta’s voice brought her back to the present, “So, would you want to go grab dinner? Buying you dinner is the least I can do since you saved me from having to take the bus and from listening to my mom bitch about how annoying it is to pick me up from the bus stop.”

 

“Won’t your parents want to eat dinner with you tonight?” Katniss asked

 

“Oh no. Dad is working late on orders and Mom doesn’t really cook anymore for me, since it would be a waste to prepare a whole meal for just two people.” Peeta replied in a tone that suggested he had heard that reasoning from his mother all too often. 

 

“Well Prim won’t be home until tomorrow and I didn’t really give my parents an ETA so sure why not.”

 

After dinner Katniss made the short drive back to her parent’s house. They said a quick hello and she caught them up on her semester and mentioned that she drove her friend Peeta home. She told them she’s tired from all the driving so she headed to her room to go to bed. She grabbed her phone, plugged into the charger and sent some texts.

 

_ Katniss - Hey I made it home safe! I hope you did too, I knew you’d be worried if I didn’t text. _

 

_ Madge - So glad to hear it. I’ve been home for a while now, why did you get home so late? Spending some extra time with Peeta since you’ll have to go a whole week without seeing each _

_ other ;) _

 

_ Katniss - :P He just bought me dinner as a thank you for driving him home _

 

_ Madge - Where’d he take you? Sounds awful lot like a date. _

 

_ Katniss - Just some local Mexican place. It was really good! They had amazing chorizo tacos! But it was NOT a date!! _

 

_ Madge - Whatever you say Kat ;) _

 

She was almost asleep when she heard her phone go off again.

 

_ Peeta - Thanks again for driving me home! I hope you made it home safely. _

 

_ Katniss - I did :) Thanks for dinner! Goodnight _

 

_ Peeta - Goodnight :) _

 

Katniss considered asking Peeta something about hanging out over break, but she didn’t want to seem weird or clingy. They’re just friends and friends could easily go 7 days without seeing each other.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**A few days later**

 

“Katniss your phone just went off” Prim yelled from the hallway. 

 

That's weird. Katniss hadn't really been carrying her phone with her while she was home. She didn't see any reason to since she was basically just sleeping, studying and having sisterly bonding time over Thanksgiving break. She grabbed her phone and smiled when she saw she had a text from Peeta. 

 

_ P- im bored  _

 

_ K- lol thanks for sharing _

 

_ P- what are you doing? _

 

_ K- watching a movie with Prim _

 

_ P- What movie? Tell her I say hi _

 

_ K- You've never even met her! We’re watching Grease. _

 

_ P- I feel like I know her, you talk about her so much. And I’ve never seen Grease _

 

_ K- WHAT?!?! You gave me so much shit for not having seen your top 5 movies and you have never seen Grease one of my all time favorites!?! _

 

“Katniss! What's going on? You're not even paying attention to Grease and it's one of your favorite parts.” Prim looked exasperated.

 

“Sorry little duck. Peeta was just texting me because he's bored. He says hi by the way” Katniss said.

 

Prim gave Katniss a knowing smile. “Oh well tell _ Peeta _ I’d  _ LOVE _ to meet him. I mean if you're gonna be dating him I have to approve of him.”

 

“Prim! No one said anything about dating! Peeta is just a friend!” Katniss shouted feeling warm and flustered.

 

“Kat, you’ve been friends with guys your whole life, is the texting conversation you’re having anything like one you’d have with Cato or Alex?” Prim pushed, forcing Katniss to compare their friendship to some of her childhood guy friends.

 

“Well no, but Peeta’s different. We always talk, text or gchat throughout the day.”

 

“My point exactly.” Prim responded with a satisfied smirk. Katniss’ phone buzzed again.

 

_ P- Well I know it’s a musical which I am not into but if you really want me to I’ll watch it sometime. _

 

_ P- I need to do something my mom is driving me crazy with “holiday prep”  _

 

_ K- I’ll hold you to that Grease promise Mellark. Do you want to come over?  _

 

_ P - I wish  :( I don’t have a car because my mom conveniently forgot to mention that she took it in for some repair work and it won’t be done until after Thanksgiving. _

 

_ K - that sucks. I could come out to you after I finish watching this movie. _

 

_ P - really? are you sure Prim wouldn’t mind _

 

_ K- nope, she’ll be fine. I’ll text you when I leave _

 

Katniss wasn’t sure what to think when she got in the car and started driving towards Peeta’s house. I mean it had been 5 days since she’d seen him which felt like a really long time. On the other hand she had gone these past 5 days without seeing any of her other friends and she was not particularly missing them. Unsure of why Peeta was somehow different than her other friends, she pushed that thought out of her mind. Pulling up to Peeta’s driveway she saw him sitting on the front steps waiting for her. Seeing her car he jumped up and walked over. 

 

“Long time no see stranger!” Peeta said happily

 

“Peet, it’s been like 4 days.” Katniss said smiling and hitting him gently on his shoulder. “But seriously it’s good to see you. Why were you waiting outside though?”

 

“Nevermind about that. We have lots to do, I need to show you all the wonders of downtown District 9.”

 

“Okay, where are we headed?” asked Katniss

 

“Not a chance Everdeen, it’s a surprise, you’ll love it. Just follow my directions.” Peeta responded smugly. 

 

Peeta directed her through the streets and they ended up downtown about 10 minutes from his subdivision. Downtown District 9 was very quaint and somewhat famous around the suburban districts. It used to be a tourist destination back when Katniss’ parents were younger. The quaint small town-feeling that many people missed living in the city. Now District 9 was a normal suburb with the exception of the downtown which clung to its fame and small-town feel making visitors from neighboring districts still choose it as a destination. Katniss was excited to see what all the fuss was about it. Peeta’s directions took them down State Street, to see the famous historical theater and hotels. Then they walked up Third Street, leaning into one another when there was a particularly strong blast of autumnal wind. Their hands brushed by each other's’ while they walked, Katniss wasn’t sure if it was intentional or accidental or perhaps some of both. There were so many eccentric and fanciful shops Katniss had difficulty imagining how they all stayed in business. Finally, Peeta took her down one more block and he seemed to be getting more and more excited the further they walked.

 

When suddenly Peeta stopped short in front of what looked like an old Victorian house, “Okay Everdeen, be prepared to have your mind blown.”

 

“What is this place?” Katniss looked in the window and tried to decipher what it was, it didn’t look like a novelty or antique shop. 

 

“You’re about to eat the best thing of your life and I know how much food means to you so I don’t make this statement lightly.”

 

“This is the best chocolate shop in the world, Graham’s Chocolate. We order all our chocolate for the bakery from here.” Peeta states proudly as he opens the door for her. He rested his hand lightly on her back and guided her into the decadent sweet shop. She watched one of the chocolatiers in his all white outfit making what looked like caramel turtles through the glass window. The smells were heavenly, the roasted cocoa beans, savory nuts and sweet berries. Katniss took it all in, the glass counters filled with as many chocolate treats as you could imagine: chocolate shaped animals, fudges, truffles, chocolate covered pretzels, toffees, salted caramels and so much more. It was glorious.

 

“Wow Peeta, I didn’t know.” Katniss said still staring at the options.

 

“It’s pretty incredible right? Wait until you taste it.”

 

“I’m going to get a chocolate covered pretzel they’re my favorite! Oh I’ll bring home some nutty toffee for Prim, she loves it” Katniss exclaimed excitedly.

 

Katniss and Peeta placed their orders and despite some grumbling from Peeta, Katniss paid for all their goodies. He watched as she unwrapped the chocolate covered pretzel from bag and bit in.

 

“MMmmm,” she moaned, “Just as good as I remember.” 

 

“Remember, wait Katniss have you been here before?” Peeta seemed concerned

 

“No! I’ve never been here before but I’ve been to Graham’s before.” Katniss replied honestly.

 

“What are you talking about? This is the only Graham’s chocolate factory in Panem”

 

“Um… Peeta no it’s not...Well it’s the only factory in Panem but it’s not the only shop.” Katniss pointed to a sign on the side of the wall. It said Graham’s Fine Chocolates, in much smaller font, proudly serving District 9 and District 12 for 85 years.

 

“Wow I had no idea. Why didn’t you say anything? You let me go on and on about how this would be the best chocolate of your life and you’ve already had it.” Peeta wrung his hands, shoved them into his pockets and looked at the ground defeated.

 

“Hey now,” Katniss put her fingers under his chin and lifted so they were eye to eye. “You were so excited and I’ve never been to the factory where they make them. Honestly, I didn’t realize it was the same place until 5 minutes ago. Besides it still is the best chocolate I’ve ever had.” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. It was an intimate kiss, a sign of affection and love. Wait love?? What! Well whatever it was expressing it was nothing like the heated kisses they usually shared while hooking up. 

 

Peeta looked up at her with glassy eyes and smiled. They resumed eating their treats while walking through the rest of the historic downtown.

 

Peeta offered to take Katniss to dinner since she drove out but she said she had to get back to help with Thanksgiving preparation. Peeta kissed her long and hard before she left, pulling her body flush against his. Katniss ran her hands through his curls and tugged his mouth closer to hers. Katniss tried to put her feelings into the kiss so that Peeta would know she’d be thinking about him while he celebrated with his family and that she hoped his mother wouldn’t berate too badly and that he shouldn’t listen to anything she says about him. After a few minutes they broke apart breathing heavily. Peeta leaned down to press his forehead to hers and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

 

“Thanks for today” Katniss whispered while looking up into his eyes.

 

“Thank _ you  _ for coming out here. Text me when you’re home safely.” Peeta responded emphatically.

 

Katniss nodded and got in the car. Her whole drive back her mind was on overdrive. Was today a date? Madge and Johanna would definitely say it was, probably even Annie would agree. Peeta was just her friend, although he hadn’t invited any other friends to come to the tour of downtown District 9, in fact he had even mentioned other friends while they were together. I mean obviously their relationship was a little different since they were friends with benefits, but staying at their parents’ houses for the week squashed any chances of working out any sexual tension. But that’s not what today was about. Today had been about learning about Peeta’s past, hearing his stories of high school hang outs and crazy shopkeepers. He had shared all that with her willingly and Katniss had liked it. She couldn’t get enough stories about him. The more she knew the better, she wanted to know literally everything about him. Shit. What did that mean? Ugh she did not have time to deal with these thoughts and feelings. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving and there was cleaning and prep work that needed to be done. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**A day later**

 

It was late Thanksgiving night and Katniss had done a pretty good job not thinking about Peeta too much. They had texted a little bit but both were busy with the holiday and preparations that there wasn’t too much time to dwell. At 10:30 on Thanksgiving night Katniss is laying in bed almost asleep when she hears her phone go off. She rolls over and grabs it from her night stand hoping it’s Peeta but sees it’s Madge instead.

 

_ Madge - Katniss please come Black Friday shopping with me!! I’ll do anything you want! I’ll clean our apartment bathroom for a month. _

 

_ Katniss - No way! Crowds of people and malls are literally two of my least favorite things. _

 

_ Madge - Come on it’s part of the Black Friday holiday! Shopping with all the crazies. _

 

_ Katniss - First of all Thanksgiving is a holiday, Black Friday is a myth perpetuated by corporations to trick the consumers into buying way more than they need because “it was such a good deal.” _

 

_ Madge - Woah girl, reel it in. ;) You’re the MOST grammatically correct texter ever. I know your stance on Black Friday but I wanna see you. I wanna know what’s happening with your bf. _

 

_ Katniss - First of all I don’t have a boyfriend! But I would like to talk to you about some stuff…. _

_ What if we grabbed lunch and then shopped after all the crazy people have gone home to bed. _

 

_ Madge - That’ll work! Want to give me a preview of what we’re talking about??? Is it about Peeta?? Did you guys finally decide to fuck?? _

 

_ Katniss - WHAT!??! NOO! Why would you say that? Ugh I regret telling you anything. I’ll see you tomorrow - meet at Sae’s at 12. _

 

The next morning Katniss showered and got ready for Black Friday shopping. She couldn’t believe Madge had convinced her to go out on this forsaken day, at least she hadn’t asked her to go at 5 AM or some other insane hour. She did want to hear her opinion on what was going on with Peeta. Ever since going out to District 9 the other day she kept over-analyzing everything, the touches, kisses, texts did it all mean more than she realized or was she just overreacting?

 

Katniss pulled into Sae’s parking lot annoyed at how far away she’d have to park. Madge was already waiting for her inside sitting at their favorite booth. She waved and jumped up to hug Katniss. 

 

“Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so so much for coming out shopping with me. I know it’s not your scene but I just really want to get as much of my Christmas shopping done as I can. That way I don’t have to worry about it after finals.” Madge babbled excitedly. 

 

“Happy Thanksgiving Madge. If you ever doubt how much I care about you, remember that I voluntarily came Black Friday shopping with you.” Katniss responded with a smile.

 

A waitress came and took their orders, a vegetable skillet with wheat toast for Madge and chocolate chip waffles with a side of bacon for Katniss.

 

“So!” Madge looked at Katniss expectantly.

 

“So...what?” Katniss asked.

 

“Come on Kat, seriously WHAT is going on with Peeta? Just tell me already,” Madge begged.

 

“Ok fine. So you know that Peeta and I have been hanging out pretty often.”

 

Madge laughed, “That’s an understatement.” Katniss glared at her and Madge lifted her hands up in defense to show that she meant no harm. 

 

“Anyway, so we’ve been hanging out and hooking up and it’s been great. He’s really fun and makes me laugh. I thought we were on the same page with just being friends with benefits, no emotional attachment, just friends hanging out who happen to help relieve some SF when necessary.”

 

Madge said nothing but she was giving Katniss some side eye with a look that said “seriously?”

 

“But then on Wednesday he invited me out to District 9, he said he was bored and didn’t want to be home. You know how his mom can be. So I drove out and he said it was a surprise where he was taking me. He gave me a whole tour of historic downtown District 9 and we just walked and talked. Then he was so excited to take me to this famous chocolate factory, but he didn’t know that we have the same shop in District 12. He seemed genuinely disappointed that he wasn’t the person to introduce me to the delicious chocolate. Then we shared this kiss afterward and it was like… I don’t know it wasn’t the way we usually kiss. It wasn’t hungry and desperate. It was gentle and sweet and made me feel all weird inside. Ever since then I’ve just been playing everything Peeta has said and done to me over and over in my head. Like what is happening? Why does it seem different? Everything was so good. I don’t want it to be weird now.” Katniss finally took a breath and looked up at Madge. 

 

“Well hon, I hate to break it to you, but I think you like Peeta.” Madge said

 

“Of course I do, he’s great.”

 

“No, I mean Kat, I think you really like him, romantically, as in, you want to date him.”

 

“Madge, you know I’m swearing off boyfriends for a while, after all the Gale nonsense. Plus, I need to focus on student teaching and my final teaching classes next semester.” Katniss responded robotically. 

 

“Yeah yeah, I know, I think that WAS a great plan. But Katniss, seriously think about your feelings for Peeta. You’re pretending it’s all casual and you’re just friends, but anyone who watches you two knows it’s more than that. Stop and think about your feelings.” Madge insisted.

 

Katniss scrunched up her face and glared at Madge. “Fine,” she huffed.

 

“How would you feel if Peeta met another girl? What if he started spending his time at her apartment? What if he didn’t want to go grocery shopping  or go to the gym with you anymore? What would you feel if you saw him kiss someone else?” Madge asked.

 

Katniss sat there imagining Peeta telling her about some new girl. She’d probably be blonde and outgoing like him. She thought about knocking on his apartment door and no one answering. She pictured going to the store and gym by herself. How much it would suck to do those things without Peeta’s witty commentary. Then she visualized him kissing another girl. Her stomach dropped and her heart started beating quickly. She looked down at her plate, pushing it aside, nothing seemed appetizing anymore. If this is how she felt just imagining Peeta with someone else, she couldn’t even fathom how she’d feel if it really happened. And if Katniss was jealous at the idea of Peeta with another woman, that meant... Shit she liked him. Like a lot. Katniss put her head on the table where her plate had been and groaned.

 

“Ugh Madge. I like Peeta, I mean really like him. How did this happen? What do I do now?” Katniss mumbled into the table.

 

Madge came over to Katniss’ side of the booth put her arm around her and picked her head off the table. “Well, now that you know, I think it’s time you have a DTR with Peeta. Define the relationship.”


End file.
